Ch.195Life and Death (9)

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

Llewellyn wasn’t happy. Despite two level-up notifications appearing, his expression remained dark.

‘This is fucking shit.’

His mood was utterly foul. His expression was relatively controlled, all things considered.

It was only natural since his sister was right beside him, and he couldn’t exactly grumble with a sour face.

But even with that restraint, his current expression made it obvious to anyone that Llewellyn was in a bad mood.

Even the Dream God, hanging from a position where he couldn’t see Llewellyn’s face, could tell. The Dream God rolled his eyes as he gazed at the collapsed tower receding in the distance.

Once, there had been a great deity known as the God of Life and Death.

And now that deity would never open his eyes again.

He smiled bitterly as he lowered his gaze.

Along with this came the hollow thought that it was fortunate Llewellyn had been the one to kill the god.

If an ordinary human or monster had done it, the divine essence wouldn’t have been taken, resulting in a distortion of the laws of death and life. Fortunately, that hadn’t happened.

Perhaps it was because the killer was the “Child of the Sun.” The Dream God felt both relief and bitterness.

It was a harmony between the futile thought that there might have been a better outcome and the rational knowledge that there couldn’t have been.

On the way back to Arba, their steps were heavy.

“Sejin.”

Words spoken while following closely beside him. As the Dream God rolled his eyes slightly, he could see the woman’s profile. Her already gentle eyes drooped even more, looking sad.

“Sejin.”

“…Yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

Llewellyn couldn’t answer hastily. Though he desperately wanted to say he was fine, the truth was that he wasn’t.

And telling such a lie would only make his sister sad. After hesitating for a while, Llewellyn let out a deep sigh.

“No, I’m not okay.”

At that, his sister’s eyes curved even more downward, looking sadder. After speaking, he felt a slight twinge of guilt, but there was no point in telling an obvious lie.

“You could have done it instead.”

“It was something I had to do. Having blood on my hands… it’s not the first time. I’m fine.”

“You just said you weren’t okay.”

“I’m not okay, but I’m fine.”

Meaning that while his feelings weren’t okay, rationally he was fine. Lucilla was pained to see her once-bright brother looking so sad.

For someone so soft-hearted that his goal was for everyone to be happy. Without realizing it, Lucilla reached out and stroked his cheek, and Llewellyn’s lips curled up slightly at the touch trailing down his face.

It was something to be grateful for. Having someone who cared was better than suffering alone.

Wasn’t that why he had felt such relief when Isla had said she would risk her life for him?

Even if it was due to the enchanting effect of his “Father’s” factor, Llewellyn was grateful to Isla because of it.

‘…How should I explain this to Isla?’

The time to return was approaching.

And when they returned, Llewellyn intended to tell Isla about the new relationship between him and his sister.

Perhaps he could tell Melody as well.

But he didn’t know how to convey it.

That wasn’t all. There was more to do when they returned.

The issue of Arba’s relocation.

“Would you like me to hug you?”

A sudden proposal as his worries deepened. Llewellyn blinked and turned to look at his sister.

“All of a sudden?”

“You used to calm down when I hugged you, didn’t you? Hmm?”

His sister pressed closer with a gentle smile. Llewellyn scratched his cheek as he considered it, but then shook his head.

“It’s fine. It’s not that bad.”

Above all, this wasn’t the right environment. At least, that’s what Llewellyn thought, but…

“Then can I hug you? My heart feels empty and my arms cold. I really want to hold you close.”

Yoon Se-ah decided to do everything she had wanted to do with her brother, who was now her lover.

Even now, there was much she couldn’t do because the Dream God was with them, so this was the best she could do within the bounds of what was acceptable to show in front of others.

Llewellyn’s eyes widened in surprise, but he had no reason to refuse.

In the end, the siblings embraced in the demon realm, which was completely dyed in purple.

It was an embrace with clear ulterior motives.

“Mmm, Sejin.”

A sister and lover who rushed into the embrace so quickly that her long hair fluttered, pressing her cheeks and face against her brother’s chest.

Llewellyn felt awkward as he recalled what they had done not long ago, and the Dream God hanging behind Llewellyn’s waist started to fake a cough but stopped.

“I like it, I like it.”

Love flowing like an exhale, and words deeply imbued with that love. Llewellyn kept his hands in the air for a moment before placing them on his sister’s shoulders and back.

Before becoming a homunculus, he had been the same height as his sister, so when they hugged, he would rest his chin on her shoulder. Now, when he embraced her tightly, he felt her warmth filling his chest.

And that was refreshing too. His chest warming made his heart settle. It was comforting. Had she intended this?

“I love you, Sejin.”

No, probably not. Llewellyn looked down at his sister speaking in a voice now mixed with coquetry and smiled faintly.

She probably just wanted a hug. It didn’t matter either way.

Whatever Yoon Se-ah’s actual purpose was, Llewellyn found peace of mind while embracing his sister. The effect was surprisingly strong.

‘I guess I like hugs.’

Thinking he should do this more often, he gently stroked his sister’s shoulders, and Lucilla took a deep breath against her brother’s chest before pulling away.

Her face was slightly flushed. Her breathing was a bit rough.

“If we continue, I’ll want to do more, so I’ll hold back. Let’s go.”

Lucilla returned to her “ideal sister” mode. She led Llewellyn, clearing the path, and Llewellyn walked comfortably behind her.

And as he walked, he could immediately notice something was off.

The demon realm had definitely expanded.

What he had felt intuitively was not wrong. It was exactly the intuition Llewellyn had felt when he cut down the God of Death.

It was a bitter thing. Trying to escape his melancholy even for a moment, Llewellyn rolled his eyes to look at his status window.

There, the things he had gained by reaching level 14 after passing through level 13 were displayed.

[Guidance of Those Who Went Before]

[Greatly increases critical hit chance when attacking weak points.]

[Adds 2 points to Agility.]

First was Guidance of Those Who Went Before, a trait unique to the Mourner class rather than a common trait.

The effect was simple. When successfully attacking clear weak points like the neck, heart, or head, the critical hit chance greatly increased.

Considering the effects of Starlight that Llewellyn possessed, or Critical Destruction, it was an excellent option.

Thanks to this, the Mourner had been able to easily handle minions when fighting dark mages. The same applied when fighting large monsters.

It was a good ability. The 2 points added to Agility, increasing his defense, was also good.

Next were the talents. Talents gained at level 12 and now at level 14.

This part needed more consideration. Llewellyn didn’t decide easily and closed the window while pondering.

‘I should discuss it with my sister later.’

Although Lucilla wasn’t an expert like Llewellyn, she would have insights from living in this world.

Llewellyn didn’t make hasty decisions. Instead, he took in what he could see beyond the closed status window.

Monsters were visible.

Monsters hiding in the horizon, trees, or bushes, watching Llewellyn and Lucilla before retreating.

Among them were monsters so severely distorted that it was difficult to imagine their original form, while others were so true to their original form that they were clearly mimics.

They were clearly residents of the demon realm. Monsters specialized in harming humans.

If his intuition about the demon realm expanding was correct, these monsters could be reason enough to abandon Arba.

It was enough to make him sigh. He wondered if he should have subdued rather than killed the god.

“Still, the expansion of the demon realm isn’t necessarily all bad.”

Lucilla said. Perhaps because he had already mentioned that the demon realm might have expanded, she seemed to have noticed what was bothering Llewellyn.

“At least farming will be easier. And many good things will drop.”

And since Grim Darker also values items. Though she spoke lightly, she was right.

“That’s true. But…”

Llewellyn’s voice trailed off, and Lucilla couldn’t respond.

It was clear that neither of them really believed that.

The expansion of the demon realm brought more disadvantages than advantages.

Why else would the family in charge of the demon realm have avoided all disasters despite the empire’s various calamities?

Even the Three Clans considered an unmanaged demon realm problematic. Llewellyn clicked his tongue bitterly.

But they couldn’t call in a clan chosen by the “Star” to manage it like in the Old Continent.

Although there was no choice in the matter, Llewellyn worried.

‘If I had known this would happen.’

Such thoughts were interrupted by a fake cough from the Dream God hanging behind his waist.

“It’s evident that this land is not suitable for human habitation. The city will have to relocate anyway. Do you have people capable of that under your command?”

“…I have some. If I ask for help, they’ll gladly assist. The problem is…”

“Whether the city will agree to relocate.”

Arba herself would agree, but it was uncertain how the city’s residents would feel.

Llewellyn walked toward the city, hoping that Ortemilia had taken some measures.

Arba was drawing near.

Thanks to the aura of “death” emanating from Llewellyn’s entire body, monsters avoided him, making it easy to reach the city.

The problem came immediately after. Llewellyn, Lucilla, and the Dream God found no one at the entrance to the city.

The gates were open, and the entire wall was dyed purple, perhaps due to the expansion of the demon realm.

Assuming the worst, Llewellyn drew a line in the air to retrieve Starlight, and Lucilla grabbed a spear that was conveniently stuck nearby beyond the gate.

The city’s entrance was also purple. The overall impression was that it had been invaded by the demon realm.

Llewellyn moved while assuming the worst, and Lucilla, her gentle expression from earlier completely gone, scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes.

Traces of where people had once lived. Many things had been left behind, as if they had hurriedly departed.

Llewellyn remained on high alert as he passed through what looked like a monster by-product market he had seen somewhere before.

He strained his ears and tried to feel vibrations through the soles of his feet.

Finally, a vibration reached his toes. Llewellyn made eye contact with his sister and quickly and quietly closed the distance.

Preparing to cut down whatever it was at any moment, they turned a corner, passed through a place that seemed to have had people until recently…

“Whoa, shit!”

They encountered a soldier who tumbled to the ground.

The soldier threw away both his spear and the sack he had been holding as he rolled on the ground.

After seeing Llewellyn and Lucilla, the soldier calmed his startled heart by stroking his chest and shouted:

“Why, why are you still here? Haven’t you evacuated?”

Llewellyn exchanged puzzled looks with his sister.

It seemed that Ortemilia had done something after all.